Baseball Travels to Coastal Carolina for Huge Sun Belt Conference Series

Dates        Time (CT)        Probable Rotation
Fri., 21       5 p.m.             RH Tanner Hall, Jr. (7-2, 2.29 ERA) vs. RH Matthew Potok, So. (2-2, 5.67 ERA)
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Sat., 22      1 p.m.             RH Billy Oldham, Jr. (3-1, 3.40 ERA) vs. RH Jacob Morrison, Fr. (5-0, 4.73 ERA)
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Sun., 23    12 p.m.           TBA vs. RH Jack Billings, Sr. (1-0, 1.17 ERA)
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HATTIESBURG, Miss. – The Southern Miss baseball team continues its current road stretch with nationally ranked conference foe Coastal Carolina this weekend at Springs Brooks Stadium in Conway, S.C.

The two programs meet for the first time with the Golden Eagles holding a 22-13 overall record and a 10-5 league mark. The Chanticleers, who rank as high as No. 8 in the polls, come into the weekend leading the Sun Belt Conference at 24-11 overall and 11-4 in league play, a game ahead of the second-place Golden Eagles along with Louisiana.

The current five-game road swing for the Golden Eagles finishes a stretch of 12 of 16 games away from Pete Taylor Park. Southern Miss is 8-4 during this current span, which includes a 4-4 road record. The five-game span started with a 3-1 loss at Louisiana Tech Tuesday night and ends next Tuesday when Southern Miss travels to face Tulane. After the Green Wave affair, Southern Miss plays 11 of its final 14 regular season games at home.

Junior designated hitter Slade Wilks, who earned the Sun Belt Player of the Week on Tuesday, belted two home runs, a three-run shot and a grand slam, and tied a school game record with eight RBI as the Golden Eagles completed its first Sun Belt Conference sweep over James Madison, last Sunday, in a 15-2 victory. Wilks now has 14 home runs to lead the team, with nine coming in the last 15 games. Over those 15 games, Wilks has posted a .328 average (20x61) with 12 runs, four doubles, nine homers and 27 RBI. He and Christopher Sargent, who hit back-to-back home runs twice during the 2022 season, did it twice in the JMU finale. Wilks also added two hits in the Saturday tilt, which included a two-run homer.

Also offensively, junior Dustin Dickerson leads the squad with his career-best 15-game hitting streak as he paces the squad in hitting with a .336 average to go along with a team-best 13 doubles, a triple, two home runs and 23 RBI.

The Golden Eagles have played 15 games that have been decided by two runs or less this season and are 9-6 in those contests. The team is 6-4 in one run games and 3-2 in two-run games. Since the start of the 2010 season under Scott Berry, the Golden Eagles are 182-122 in games decided by two runs or less, including 112-76 in one-run games. Ten of the last 19 games have been decided by two runs or less.

The Golden Eagles also work to continue its winning ways in league play having won their last four Sun Belt Conference series winning on the road at Troy and Old Dominion, while also beating Georgia Southern and James Madison at home. Southern Miss also took one of three in their first-ever league set at Texas State. Four of its five league opponents are located in the Top 100 RPI by the NCAA through April 19, including Troy at No. 33, Old Dominion at No. 48, Texas State at No. 59 and Georgia Southern at No. 75. James Madison sat at No. 155 after their series with the Golden Eagles. Both Georgia Southern and Texas State were NCAA Tournament squads a year ago. Southern Miss also meets Coastal Carolina this week (No. 10) and Louisiana (No. 64) later this season, two more league teams that reached last season's NCAA Tournament.

Southern Miss will play in the state of South Carolina for the first in baseball since a tournament at the College of Charleston during the 2011 campaign. The Golden Eagles beat the host CofC as well as Rhode Island and Connecticut in that event.

All three games can be viewed via ESPN+ as well as heard on an affiliate of the Southern Miss Sports Network.

Baseball Travels to Coastal Carolina for Huge Sun Belt Conference Series

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Players Mentioned

Dustin Dickerson

Tanner Hall

Billy Oldham

Christopher Sargent

Slade Wilks